Sorghum Fakir

FAKIR is a sorghum-sudangrass hybrid intended for forage use, characterized by early maturity and high productivity. The vegetative period from germination to heading is 46–48 days, and to full grain maturity it is 83–85 days. Plants reach heights of 172 to 254 cm, featuring erect bushes with medium branching and foliage. Seeds are elliptical, brown in color, with a 1000-seed mass of approximately 20.1 g. The hybrid is characterized by medium anthocyanin coloring of seedlings and a symmetrical, erect panicle with brown glumes at maturity. FAKIR exhibits high resistance to adverse conditions, including drought, cold, lodging, as well as diseases such as powdery and hard smut, red bacterial blight, and damage from cereal aphids. Due to these qualities, the hybrid surpasses traditional sudangrass varieties in height at maturity, foliage, grain yield, and green mass. It is recommended to grow it in wide-row spacing with inter-rows of 0.45 m and 0.7 m, at a density of 150–250 thousand plants per hectare. The hybrid's yield is high: in the Middle Volga region it reaches 121 centners of dry matter per hectare, and in the Ural region it is 52.5 centners. Grain yield is 2.3–3.3 t/ha, and green mass yield is 22.5–30.5 t/ha. The hybrid is recommended for producing green mass with high protein and carotene content, as well as for producing silage, grass-pulp, and hay, making it a valuable forage resource for animal husbandry.